


The Ghosts of Whitestone

by clericofthebalance



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, I cried writing this, Light Angst, the de rolo family is laid to rest, the romance is there just not blatant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23072350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clericofthebalance/pseuds/clericofthebalance
Summary: In which we see what happened the night after Whitestone was freed.It always bothered me that we never really got a resolution for the de Rolo family.  So, I wrote this.  And cried.  A lot
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Comments: 10
Kudos: 89





	The Ghosts of Whitestone

Vex couldn’t sleep. This whole ordeal had left scars. Whitestone had been difficult on them all, but she was still so worried about Percy. It felt like she was the only one. The others had thoroughly enjoyed the impromptu festival, then were absorbed in their individual concerns. She was worried about Percy and Cassandra. There had been an edge of grief to them both, even as their family was avenged and their city freed. Vex cared, deeply, about those she considered hers. She was a mamma bear, as proven with Trinket, and often turned those instincts towards her patchwork family.

It was why she was so conservative, so stingy, so slow to spend a single coin more than necessary. Nightmares of the years where her family barely had enough to live each day haunted her. So, she saved and invested and budgeted. Money meant safety and security for those she loved. It was the easiest way to show she cared. 

But money wasn’t going to help the last two de Rolos.

She sighed and swung out of her bed. Percy had given them all suites in the safest wing of the castle. It had barely been touched by the Briarwoods, even had a few remnants of the de Rolo family hidden in the room. Vex had found a few toys—several of them mechanical, bearing Percy’s artistic flair to her pleasure, and two wooden practice swords and a much-loved doll—and books filled with parchment and covered with scribbled little notes under the furniture. She had piled her findings into a decorative bowl to give to Percy and Cassandra. Something of their family, at least. She would give it to them in private, after breakfast.

Vex redressed and strode out her door in search of Percy. She knew he wasn’t in his room, she had heard him leave hours before and he had yet to return, so off she went. Vex found him in the Great Hall with Keeper Yennen, both men exhausted and grimy, drinking tea with baskets at their feet.

“Percy?”

“Vex!” Percy started and flushed, looking worried, “You should be asleep.”

“So should you. Why are you up?”

He hesitated, face grief-stricken and tired, leaning a bit into the hand Yennen moved to rest on the young lord’s shoulder, “We were- We’re- Fuck, we’re gathering up what remains of my family. The villagers collected the remains from the dungeons and only my uncles and grandfather were still there.”

“Still-“

Percy let out a bone-weary sigh, “Every time a member of my family died, they threw the body into my cell. Because Ripley wanted me to break so I would follow her orders. When I wasn’t being tortured, I was thrown into the cell with the rotting bodies of everyone I loved and listening to those left being hurt. After I escaped, they hung what was left of my parents and siblings from the Sun Tree then crushed the remains after the bones collapsed. Keeper Yennen offered to help”

Vex went cold as it hit her. Percy had downplayed so much of what had happened to him, had hidden behind masks, had only shared the barest of what happened to him. He had been a child. She whispered, the aching grief and fury clear in her voice, “How can I help?”

“I-What?”

“I’m a tracker. Let me help.”

“Thank you, Vex,” Percy offered her the tiniest, most strained smile he could. She grabbed a basket and marched out the door, the men following her demurely. It took hours in the could night with torch light and several other people, but they eventually found every fragment of bone and scrap of cloth under the Sun Tree. Thankfully, hanging people from the Sun Tree wasn’t a favored practice. So they knew that what they found belonged to the de Rolos.

Vex had worked shoulder to shoulder with Percy. She had slowly prompted him to talk, to share. Without Orthax clouding his mind, he remembered so much more than before. It was no longer a cloud of anger and vengeance. He was clear-headed, completely, probably for the first time since Vex had met him. And he opened up to her about his family.

She learned about his father, Freddie to his mother and Da to his kids, who Percy took after in looks and personality. Fredrickstein had been a scholar. He researched mythologies and gods and legendary beasts. He wrote books, under a pen name of course, some Vex herself had read. Percy was quiet and studious like his father. Johanna had been the true ruler of Whitestone and the treasurer. She had been brilliantly smart and diplomatic and frugal. She had been an accomplished fencer, had passed that knowledge on to her children, had chased fortune hunters away from her children with prejudice. His parents sounded like kind, understanding, normal people rather than stuffy nobles.

She learned about Julius and his dedication to Pelor. How the eldest de Rolo had been devoted to the sun god and was training to be a Paladin, how he had abdicated in favor of Vesper with parental approval. She learned about Vesper, Percy’s twin—and wasn’t that horrifying, Percy was living her worst nightmare—and best friend. Vesper who was to be Lady de Rolo one day. Vesper, the only one able to coax Percy out of a creative binge. Vesper, who hid stray cats and dogs and baby animals in her rooms or in the stables. Vesper, who could entice Percy to all sorts of mischief with a grin.

She learned about Ludwig, the shyest of the de Rolo children, the quiet one. Even more quiet than Percy. He had been a musician, able to play almost every instrument in the music room to some degree of competency. Ludwig had disliked people and often hid from others. He had been gentle and quiet, but loud when given music. He had wanted to go on to further study as a bard. She learned about the twins, Oliver and Whitney, future wizards who loved to play pranks using magic. They had been the loudest and most boisterous. Bright, colorful children never allowed to decide what they wanted to be.

She learned about the children Percy and Cassandra had been. Percy, quiet but not shy, confident but still preferring the company of his books and experiments over people. He had been trying to teach Ludwig to be more confident in himself. He had been working on an irrigation system for the farmlands and pipes to carry water to all the houses in the city. The pipe system in the castle, to bring clean spring water and to carry away waste, had been a resounding success so Percy was expanding his plans. Cassandra had been Percy’s little assistant. The two had been very close before the Coup. Percy had taken care of her for nearly a year as a small child when a fever had swept through the city and left most of their family bed ridden. She had been a little shit, according to Percy, one who knew the castle better than anyone else. She had found and mapped dozens of secrets, only a few of which she shared with her favorite brother.

She learned about his uncles, Alastair and Ronam. Alastair had been Fredrickstein’s younger brother and had acted as an advisor. He was one of the council, in charge of looking after the farmers. He had been devoted to them and loved agriculture. Vesper had been very close to him and to their mother. Ronam was from Port Damali, a half-orc warrior with a fiercely protective nature. He and Alastair had made quite the striking pair. Ronam had been in charge of the guard—part of why Stonefell had turned against the de Rolos, according to Yennen—and a dedicated worshipper of Erathis. He had been working with Julius before they both died.

She learned about Lucien de Klossowski, scientist and clockmaker, who had followed his daughter from Emon to Whitestone. Percy had learned science at his knee, had become a tinkerer with his weathered hands guiding Percy’s own. Lucien had been loud and rambunctious, the life of the party, winner of every drinking competition for twenty years. He and his favorite grandchild were very different. Except they shared the same cutting, vicious tongue. Percy had adored his grandfather.

Vex listened and learned. Soon, the other townsfolk and Yennen had joined in. Their grim task was made easier as stories were shared, better times remembered, lives celebrated. The area under the sun tree was picked absolutely bare, the baskets were full. Everyone was filthy, covered with dirt and grime, but accomplished.

Dawn came, Percy fetched Cassandra, and they all put the de Rolos to rest together. Cassandra was sobbing brokenly, apologizing even as they filled the urns, promising to provide a beautiful crypt for them as soon as the city could afford it. Percy was silent as tears rolled down his cheeks, pulling his sister in close like they were both still children, like there wasn’t abandonment and betrayal and resentment creating a canyon between them. Vex took Percy’s free hand and squeezed as Yennen whispered the rights, covering the crypt with a simple stone slab.

The three watched together, surrounded by supportive townsfolk, as Yennen prayed. Cold and ice seemed to seep from the castle as the spirits were finally laid to rest. They broke apart to get cleaned up, to pull themselves together, and to mourn the senseless loss of life and sanity for so long.

Vex emerged from her bath refreshed and exhausted, changing back into her nightclothes. A knock startled her and she moved towards the door, yawning, opening it to an exhausted Percy. He looked so tired and so broken, eyes sunken and skin pale, swaying a bit. Vex offered a hand and led him to the bed, settling him into the soft mattress before lying beside him, pulling him to her chest. He cried softly into her neck. She held him close and let him grieve, the two eventually falling asleep as the exhaustion and grief took hold. 

At least some spirits were laid to rest that night.


End file.
